TikTok explains how its ad campaigns and tools work in a free business course, which comes with multiple videos and a downloadable guide.
The new course, called TikTok Tactics, is broken down into four core components:
- Referral (web + app)
- Targeting, bidding, and optimization
- Product catalogs
- Creative ads
This easy-to-follow TikTok guide is a global collection of best practices to help all businesses achieve success, regardless of their advertising goals.
Before going over the tactics included in the course, let’s delve into what makes TikTok’s audience unique compared to users on other social media platforms.
TikTok’s audience in numbers
TikTok provides the following stats to help businesses get to know their TikTok audience and what they want to get out of using the platform.
- 75% TikTok users want to be entertained
- 42% of TikTok users discover new things on the platform
- 68% TikTok users are inspired by the content they see
- 91% of TikTok users take some action after the content they see
- 25% of TikTok users searched/purchased a product they saw advertised
- 61% of TikTok users feel its ads are unique compared to other major social platforms
- 45% “Heavy” TikTok users feel the ad blends in with other content
TikTok Advertising Tactics
TikTok Ads Manager
TikTok ads start with TikTok Ads Managera self-service platform that can drive results across your business pipeline.
Within TikTok Ads Manager, businesses can benefit Four tactics to achieve their marketing objectives.
Every tactic has it Three levels That unlock additional advertising features.
Here’s more about each tactic and the different levels within it.
1. Referral (Web + App)
Attribution is about knowing where your conversions are coming from so you can make informed decisions about your campaigns.
Building your business on a solid attribution foundation is the first requirement for building a successful TikTok advertising strategy.
TikTok provides multiple ways to attribute events from your website to your TikTok ads.
First, you need to implement a web referral tool – either a Tik Tok Pixel or the API events.
When you use this tactic, you start at level one and unlock additional features as you climb the ladder.
- level one: Standard pixel mode for basic conversion tracking (best suited for businesses that don’t have a dedicated web development team).
- Second Level: Pixel developer mode (a more advanced solution for companies with a dedicated development team).
- The third level: Events API – Server-to-server integration that allows you to share website events directly to TikTok.
2. Targeting, bidding and optimization
This tactic is about analyzing campaign parameters and adjusting them to achieve your goals.
Targeting, bidding, and optimization are three levels in one, all working together in harmony. Unlike other advertising methods that work in a hierarchy,
TikTok stresses the importance of having dedicated resources for the day-to-day running of ad campaigns.
That’s because the TikTok advertising platform is rapidly evolving and always offering new tools to improve campaign performance.
Having a dedicated resource at home, or through an agency, can help you stay up to date.
3. Product catalogs
This tactic is exclusively for companies that sell products, as it focuses on a set of tools that will help get these products in front of the right audience.
The catalog method helps your business create ads at scale.
Let’s say you have three products and three audiences. It would be easy to go into the TikTok Ads Manager and create nine ads, one for each group of products and audiences.
On the other hand, it will not be easy to create ads manually if you have more than 100 or 1000 products.
Alternatively, you can let the TikTok platform dynamically create ads for you using your own product catalog.
All you have to do is upload your product catalog and choose the level in the three-step system that’s right for your business.
- level one: Upload products manually
- Second Level: Download product catalog from CSV form
- The third levelCatalog summary download
Again, this is the hierarchy. As you level up, you will unlock additional ad formats.
So uploading a catalog feed will give you access to the maximum number of ad formats available.
4. Creative advertising
Every TikTok video is a full screen, immersive, and audio experience. This also includes TikTok ads.
Greater immersion translates to higher engagement levels and richer interactions.
But it also means constantly having to constantly update your brand message in order to maintain a high level of performance.
It is recommended that businesses have a steady supply of new ad creatives entered into their account, ideally on a weekly basis.
Here are the three levels of TikTok creativity, with each level unlocking more advertising potential.
- Level 1 – Repurpose designsThe creative tools available in Ads Manager allow you to repurpose existing ad assets.
- Level 2 – Personalized TikTok Ads: At this level, you interact with creators, either directly or through the TikTok marketplace, to create a steady stream of Spark ads (TikTok’s native ad serving format).
- Level 3 – Creative Partner Ecosystem: In this level, you will have a TikTok creative API partner who will provide you with five to ten new creatives every week.
TikTok Ads Best Practices
Now that you’re familiar with the four TikTok advertising tactics, which you can learn more about in the company’s full guide, let’s quickly dive into some best practices.
- High accuracy: Aim for a video resolution of 720p or higher.
- Use the voice: Experimenting with sound and navigating emerging music trends.
- screen fit: Make your video perfectly fit on screen with 16:9 aspect ratio.
- Maintain a creative focus: Ensure that in-app overlays do not cover important information.
- Fir Mobilet: – Create ads in vertical video format, ensuring that key visuals are in frame.
- CTAThe inspiration for working with a CTA is evident at the end of each ad.
- cut shortThe ideal length for a TikTok video ad is 21 to 34 seconds
Source: TikTok tactics
Featured image: Miguel Lagoa/Shutterstock
